So, it seems using cash to haggle doesn't work like it used to!

[Kev Williams]

I've been driving an old '04 Chevy Venture van for about 7 years- initially bought it for my father in law for something to drive after the engine in his old Ford F250 caught on fire while picking up pizza one night, was all of $1300 at a dealership. Dad failed his drivers test shortly thereafter, and I've been using it ever since. Had zero issues with it, until about 2 weeks ago, it decided to grow some crazy electrical gremlins; heater fan knob just plain wouldn't turn one morning- Made do with the rear heat, but that doesn't do much to defog the windshield, so I made a windshield 'mop' to fix that problem. That was okay until the headlights decided to grow a mind of their own. Just come any time, day or night, 3 or 4 hours, then turn themselves off after a few hours. Then back on, then off, no rhyme or reason...

Since it'll likely cost way more to fix it than I PAID for it, I figured it was time to look for something I've wanted for quite awhile now to replace the van, a Cadillac Escalade :)

Found this 2013 Platinum at a local dealer, was the best price I found for a similar unit by several thou$and bucks, on Edmunds. I photocopied the ad and brought in in with me...
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Very nice ride, very good condition, previous owners took good care of it, and the test drive put a nice smile on my face! :D
So I decided to buy it, and pay cash. I had a business check, or could go get a cashier's check a few minutes away...

I began the requisite haggling process, but the salesman got a bit antsy, and 'had to go talk to someone'... Turns out someone messed up and the Edmunds ad hadn't been updated, and their own ad had the price at nearly $4k higher! Ok, so no haggling, price is good so I'm fine, the wife was fine. I made us a cup of coffee while we waited on the paperwork...

After a few minutes, the salesman comes and asks us for a "big favor"-- Would it be possible for us to finance the thing, and make 4 payments before paying it off, which would allow them to collect their credit-union 'kickback'... Don't ask me why I agreed, but I figured what the hey.

So, my cash was no good to buy a Cadillac, what's this world coming to? ;) -- I guess the next thing will be 'tipping by tapping' at the restaurants?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

They make more money in loan interest than in profit off the sale. It's quite common. It's purely a business decision.

[Jim Koepke]

I guess the next thing will be 'tipping by tapping' at the restaurants?

Are you making a joke? It has been in restaurants around here for at least a couple of years.

jtk

[Rich Engelhardt]

The days of "cash is king" have been over for the last - 50 years at least.

"Peeling off the Benjamins" doesn't work at all for a business deal & hasn't for a good number of decades.
You will always come out ahead if you learn how to do the "finance dance".

[Tom M King]

The same sort of thing happened when we went to buy a new car for Pam a couple of years ago. We had never financed a vehicle before, preferring to make one payment, but they wanted to finance it so badly that we got a better price making payments at zero percent interest than paying actual cash money. The last new car we had bought was in 2004, and it was different then. This time they told us they made money on the financing.

[Kim Gibbens]

You can pay off your loan at anytime. Make 1 payment and pay it off. Unless the dealer gave you an additional discount to finance, you owe them nothing. And they will lose the kickback from the bank. It is illegal to tie the price of the vehicle to financing, yet they try to do it all the time. Educate yourself before going to the dealership so you are aware of the things they try to pull on the uneducated.

[Stan Calow]

Yes same thing happened to me several years ago. Dealer gets a kick back for each loan they originate. I recall the president of GM once (decades ago) referred to GM as a money lending business that also sold cars.

[Kev Williams]

Are you making a joke? It has been in restaurants around here for at least a couple of years.

jtk No joke-- I don't get out much and I while I usually tip in cash I HAVE many times added a tip to bill to be charged to my card, so I know how it's done ;)

BUT- I've never been anywhere that tipping by tapping or swiping a card at the table was possible...

[Thomas Wilson]

And one more thing, that thing about the $4000 “mistake”, that was all for show.

[Bruce Page]

I bought in 2020 in the height of the pandemic. I thought I might have a haggling edge with cash. The dealer couldn’t have cared less.

[Doug Garson]

Pretty much every video or article I've seen lately advises never say your paying cash until you have final negotiated price. As others have said, dealers make more money on the financing and add ons like extended warranty, paint protection etc. than on the car itself. If they know up front your paying cash they will negotiate much harder on the car price.
As to swiping or tapping at the table, every restaurant I've been in for years has brought a wireless credit card reader to the table for paying the bill including the tip.

[Stan Calow]

I've yet to see a wireless card reader at a US restaurant. Required in the EU.

[mike stenson]

I bought in 2020 in the height of the pandemic. I thought I might have a haggling edge with cash. The dealer couldn’t have cared less.

I did too, when they were pushing 0% interest. Dealer was happy with cash, at the price I wanted. Then again, how many people (other than me and the USFS) want a plain, base F150. I do kind of wish it had cruise control though.

[Bill Dufour]

At a restaurant I prefer to tip with cash. That increases the tip by about 2%. Easy way to calculate the tip is to look at the tax paid and double it. That gets around 15% here
Bill D

[Patty Hann]

At a restaurant I prefer to tip with cash. That increases the tip by about 2%. Easy way to calculate the tip is to look at the tax paid and double it. That gets around 15% here
Bill D
I look at the pre-tax total ("never tip on the tax" ) and double it..comes to almost 18.5% in AZ.
If the service is exceptionally good I'll just double the post-tax total which would result in a little more than 21% tip.
And yes, I also leave the tip in cash.

[Kev Williams]

And one more thing, that thing about the $4000 “mistake”, that was all for show.
Maybe, but I'm pretty sure it was actually a mistake :) The Edmunds ad is still up, but now with the higher price--
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--which is $3900 more than I paid for it. The dealer ad is off their site now--

[Rich Engelhardt]

And one more thing, that thing about the $4000 “mistake”, that was all for show.
@ the end of the day - does it really matter?
The buyer is convinced he "got a deal" & better yet, got one over on the (evil) car dealer.

The dealer moved a unit & got a repeat customer.

The buyer got his dream car & is happy about having a luxury SUV he saved roughly 25% on.

Win/win all around.

(you're probably right though - car dealers don't make mistakes like that- - $4000 - they are slimy enough that they would just refuse to honor the price, unless there was some really good reason not to.)

[Jim Becker]

I've yet to see a wireless card reader at a US restaurant. Required in the EU.
I've seen (and used them) a number of times. That was generally in newer, independent restaurants that didn't have a big investment in traditional point of sale stations at counters, but not always. Red Robin, for example, uses handhelds for order submission and has wireless terminals at every table where one can pay directly if they prefer.

[Ron Selzer]

I've yet to see a wireless card reader at a US restaurant. Required in the EU.



Texas Road House

[Ronald Blue]

I've yet to see a wireless card reader at a US restaurant. Required in the EU.

I've used them many times. Chili's uses them and I can't recall the other ones that I've been in that do. Maybe TGIFriday's. Or Ruby Tuesday. At least some take it a step further and have games on the screen you can play......but not for free.

[Ronald Blue]

It seems that car dealers also give you a price and now days if you try to get them down further don't care if you walk away. Someone else will be there to buy if you don't.

[Greg Parrish]

When buying a used truck two years ago, I found a 2500 GMC listed for $18k on either Edmunds or Auto Trader that caught my interest. We were on a trip with our motorhome and I diverted the drive home by the dealer to look at it. After test driving it, I asked about pricing with the thought of offering them $15k to start. Figured we would meet in the middle. Anyway, before I could offer a price, the dealer took off and left me standing there while mumbling something about getting me a price. He came back with a line item sheet showing I could have the truck out the door for $29k and change. I actually laughed at them and the dealer and sales manager stood there looking at me like I was insane. I pointed out the $18k price and they immediately told me it was a mistake and should have been $22k. They also advised they charged a $2,600 reconditioning fee on all used vehicles, plus this one had all the extras like undercoating and crap. I again laughed, called them crooked and walked out the door. Headed over to my motorhome and we drove away. The dealer continued to call and text me for a week or two until I blocked their number. They insisted we could work something out and they were ready to lower their price. No thank you.

[Curt Harms]

No joke-- I don't get out much and I while I usually tip in cash I HAVE many times added a tip to bill to be charged to my card, so I know how it's done ;)

BUT- I've never been anywhere that tipping by tapping or swiping a card at the table was possible...

One of the casual chain restaurants had gadgets on the table where you can pay your bill and add a tip. I don't recall which one - Chilis? I have heard it's a better idea to leave a tip in cash. Supposedly the restaurant will take a piece of the tip if paid as part of the check. I don't know how true that is.

[Kev Williams]

It also doesn't hurt to 'know people'. An old boating buddy of mine is the sales manager at one of our area's largest Chevy dealers, and his brother is a salesman there. About 8 years ago to the day, I ran across an ad at his dealership for a 2013 Mustang GT Convertible, car was barely 2 years old, IIRC the price was just shy of $33k. I asked the wife if she wanted another Mustang GT convertible for her 60th birthday to go with her 40th birthday present, an '89 Mustang GT convertible. She thought that would be ok - ;)

So I called my friend, explained the situation, he had us come in to test drive it, we said 'yes, start the paperwork!' Only thing he asked for was my social, we never even discussed price... An hour or so later he brought us loan paperwork to sign, I gave him a check for some down payment. Our price out the door, including sale tax and doc fees, was nearly $5k off the ad price. I'm not sure how much if any the dealership made off the sale, and I never asked, but I've always assumed at the very least, the brothers gave away their end just because we were their friends. How they wheel n' deal with normal folk I have no clue, but I'm glad we're friends!
This was a couple days after we brought the new Mustang home :)
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--And we still have both of 'em!

I actually called my friend to check on the price of a 2 year newer Escalade at 'their' place just before we went in and got the one we got, but it was his day off. However, the newer one was SUBSTANTIALLY more money than the one we ended up with, so I'm happy!

[Dave Lehnert]

I was at a dealer last fall looking at a new Mazda CX50
I asked what kind discount I could expect off sticker, Sales person said " We are charging $4,000 over sticker price" :eek:

[Stan Calow]

Maybe we're heading toward the end of the "plaid-talking-salesman-guess-what you're-going-to-pay-for-this-car" model of selling cars. No reason why we should have to buy this "appliance" any differently from buying a refrigerator.